


‘Cause I’m Not Too Far And You’re My Favorite Place

by Child of War and Peace (BisexualNerd)



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Ballerina, Bisexual Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, M/M, OC based on Carolynn Shada, Reggie Peters Has ADHD (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Peters-centric (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Used To Have A Good Relationship With His Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:35:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29671518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BisexualNerd/pseuds/Child%20of%20War%20and%20Peace
Summary: It's one of those less pleasant days again and Reggie finds himself visiting all the old places he used to go to with his parents back in a happier time.He then meets someone with beautiful blue eyes and sunshine for a smile.Everything will be wonderful if only Alex would stop calling him out.---------------------This is a soft "shipping" fic with Reggie's love interest basing on Jer's wife, Carolynn. But it will be focusing on the band's friendship with each other as well.Rated T for swearing.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer & Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina & Reggie Peters, Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	1. From Day One, I Knew You Were The One

**Author's Note:**

> Not me, an aromantic who has never written a love fic before, wanting to write a love fic.
> 
> Hi, I'm writing a ship fic for the first time. I'd never been in a relationship before and I'm an aromatic, but I think I've done a good job with this one.
> 
> A small part of this is inspired by my crush on a girl from my old high school, which is why the title is like that. I hope you guys will have a good time reading!
> 
> The title is from Favorite Place by All Time Low.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reggie takes a trip down memory lane by visiting some of the places he used to love back when he was younger while checking for some changes in the city.  
> He didn't think he would meet a new friend doing so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if many people want to read this or whatever. But I did enjoy writing it a lot seeing this is the first time I have written a ship fic? It's called a ship fic, right? My first language is not English so sometimes I would get confused.
> 
> I hope this is a good quality for my first ship fic! Enjoy the first chapter!
> 
> The chapter title is from the one and only, Ballerina by Jeremy Shada.

Being dead is strange. Especially when you don’t feel that _dead_. Some days he feels more alive and some days he feels deader. It’s like that thing when you’re alive and you just disassociate sometimes, just the opposite. Sometimes he feels too alive to be actually dead.

Good days are when he feels more alive. Everyone would feel more alive during those good days, no matter how alive or dead they are. Bad days though, it’s the opposite.

Reggie thinks it's one of those days today when the world feels a little duller and everything just slows down to the point that would get his head a bit messed up. Alex has a date with Willie and he has been out since early in the morning. Luke, on the other hand, is at his parents' house, like always. And Julie is at school, not like she has a choice as they do though.

Only him that has nothing to do. Reggie takes a glance at Luke’s notebook lying on Julie’s piano, wondering if he should continue to work on his part of the new song on his own. The only problem is, he always writes music with Luke or Alex or both of them. It doesn’t feel right to work on it by himself.

The ghost sighs, getting up from the couch. He realizes for a fact that he hasn't done much exploring the city ever since he and the others came back from "limbo". They went here and there to check out some important locations of their old lives but they have not seen every change in the city.

Maybe except for Alex. Willie has been taking him to many places to show them off or/and show his skateboarding skill off.

He has been to his old house, kinda. It’s not exactly his old house anymore, especially with his parents moving away and the house itself being converted into a bike shop. Other than that, the Orpheum, Julie’s school, the cafe where they played Finally Free and just some random places.

He wants to go exploring. And perhaps, who knows, he might find out something interesting about the future. With that idea in mind, he poofs out of the studio and onto the street outside the Molinas' house.

There are some places he wants to visit first. Like the old cinema where he watched the third Star Wars movie - Return of the Jedi, which was also his first one. That place was where his obsession with Star Wars started.

Then, of course, the theatre where his parents took him to back in the days when they hadn’t fought with each other. He was only like, 7 or something when they went there for the first time. And they had got to see a few dance performances along with some plays. When the fights started was also when they stopped going. He was about 11 or 12.

He remembers his mom’s once favourite cafe shop and his dad’s old workshop. They used to take turns taking him to either of those places all the time when he was little. The good old days.

Reggie decides he would go to the cafe first, then the workshop, then the cinema and lastly, the theatre. It takes him a few moments to recall the exact location of the cafe, but at least it is correct.

He's disappointed to find out that the cafe is long gone. He has even walked up and down the whole block to see if he remembered wrong. But there was no cafe in sight, instead, in the place where he's most certain about where it was, there is now a phone shop or something. Smartphones, like the ones all the kids/teens/adults nowadays have.

His shoulders drop as he looks away from where the cafe used to be and then he poofs away to the workshop.

The workshop, turns out, is still there. But it has definitely gone to some re-innovations because it looks different than how it is in his memories. The place was owned by one of his dad’s friend so it must have been inherited by the next generations after him.

Feeling satisfied with his discovery, Reggie recalls the location of the cinema and disappears in a flash of light just to reappear in front of a huge building.

 _Great,_ he thought solemnly. _Another change._

He glares at the building, which is probably owned by some company from the sight of it. He doesn’t want to waste time here, feeling bitter from thinking about how all of the wonderful places from his younger (alive) days got replaced so easily.

His hope would be the theatre somehow still here. But if it’s not, he’s afraid he would be crushed. Out of fourth places, the theatre was where most of his happy memories had been made. And all the good moments he had with his parents, those in the theatre are the ones he remembers the best.

He was too young when he had been to the cafe and the workshop that everything is blurry now. And the cinema, well, he only watched the movie there once. The theatre, however…

Reggie takes a deep breath (deep ghost breath?), which somehow he can still do despite his lack of lungs, and poofs to the last location with his eyes closed.

Gathering all of his courage, the teen ghost opens his eyes slowly, as if preparing himself for the worst.

The first thing he notices is the big, dusty sign he has always known so well. ****Gilman Theatre**** , it reads. The second thing he notices is that the place looks like it’s one step away from collapsing.

He takes a tentative step closer, eyes searching for every smallest detail. The wooden door of the theatre has been somewhat broken. There are holes in it now.

Tiny debris is scattering on the ground and the glass on the windows are dirty with dust and fingerprints. Some vague graffiti here and there too.

 _Oh,_ he realizes. _It has been abandoned._

Which he doesn’t know if better or worse than being replaced by modern buildings.

He phases through the door to get inside the theatre. The ticket counter is still there, also abandoned, left to gather dust and to become rats’ homes. He dashes his eyes across the posters on the walls, all yellow and faded. One of the dates on the posters reads “21st Jan 1997". The place must have been closed sometime after that.

It was a small theatre, but still big enough to be some ballerinas and actors dreams before they became bigger names. He quickly found his way to the auditorium.

The two doors are locked, of course, but well, he’s a ghost. Not much can stop him. Reggie easily walked through one of the doors to enter the auditorium.

The seats are still here, with an additional layer of dust. He can see some rats scurrying between two rows of seats. Oh well, he thinks he should check the stage out. He had always wanted to see the stage up close but they never managed to buy front seat tickets.

With a soft smile on his face, Reggie starts to make his way down the auditorium but stops short after a few steps because of the sight on the stage.

There is someone over there, soaring and flying like gravity means nothing to them. A little bit of sunlight streaming through (probably) some cracks of the theatre brightens up the stage gives him a better look at the dancer.

 _A ballerina!_ His inner child shouts silently. He wonders if she's dead or still alive. And why she is dancing in an abandoned theatre.

Years of sneaking in and out have given him the ability to move without any sound. And with the ballerina being lost in her own world, dancing and moving around gracefully, it's not that hard to get near to the stage undetected.

He stares at her for a few seconds, the question of whether she's a human or a ghost taking over his mind. But soon enough, everything disappears and the only thing that occupies his thoughts now is the ballerina soaring across the stage under the golden streams of sunlight.

It might occur to him later that it must look a bit creepy now, with him not being able to take his eyes off her and she being in her little world, not noticing him.

So when Reggie has snapped out of his trance, he carefully tries to slip away, letting her be. But in a moment of clumsiness, he accidentally kicked over a janitor bucket, making a loud noise echoing throughout the theatre.

 _Shit!_ He curses in his head, carefully looks back to see if she has noticed. When his eyes meet her blue ones, he realizes that she may be able to see him.

“Hi?” Reggie croaks out apologetically.

“You can see me?” She asks, her voice soft and high.

“I--uh yeah? You can see me.” That is a statement, not a question. “You’re a ghost too, aren’t you?”

“That is correct,” She tilts her head and looks at something on the ground. “Bucket boy.”

He laughs nervously, a hand lifting to the back of his neck as he tries to find something to say. He settles for the truth.

“I, I’m sorry. Didn’t want to disturb your uh, dancing? I just, didn’t see the bucket.”

She smiles and her eyes twinkle.

“Nah, it’s fine. I need to stop at some point too. Been in here for way too long.” She gets down from the stage to stand in front of him, face to face, but still from a good distance. “I’m Rowlynn.”

“Unique name.” He compliments. “I’m Reggie.”

“So, Reggie,” She tries the name slowly. “What are you doing here, haunting an old theatre?”

He grins lopsidedly.

“I ahh, I used to go here with my parents when I was younger and well, alive. Just checking out some places, you know?”

“Yeah, got that. This place closed sometime in July 1997. After that, it has been mine only.” She pauses, but it seems like she would continue so Reggie stays quiet and lets her talk. “I used to perform here. My last performance was in 1996.”

“Oh.” The atmosphere becomes still and tenser. He doesn’t know how to respond to that. It’s always difficult to talk about anything relating to death, even if you’re alive or actually dead.

But the gentle smile soon returns to her face and he finds himself getting lost in those blue eyes and the warmth of the summertime again.

“Enough about me. What did you do before, you know?”

“I played music. Bassist, in a band.” He stumbles over his words a little.

“Oh, a musician. That’s lovely.”

“Yeah, I still do, actually. Most of my band died and we are now ghosts together.”

“A dead band, interesting. Any chance I can see you guys perform?”

Reggie laughs lightly, calling for his bass guitar in silence. It appears in his hands after a short second to Rowlynn’s surprise. She seems impressed, unlike Julie that one time when he tried to show off his new ability.

“How about now? It would be my pleasure to provide a ballerina with some music.” He might be an airhead sometimes but he knows how to be smooth with the ladies, even if he’s feeling a little nervous at the moment.

"Unbelievable." She shakes her head. "I'm sure it would be, but I doubt you can provide me with some Chopin."

“And why is that?” He leans on the stage, letting his body relax a bit more.

“Really? Asking that question while looking like you just came here straight from a rock show?”

Reggie feels like laughing once more. Her guess was almost correct. He’s from a rock band after all. And yes, he can’t play Chopin, despite knowing some of his music.

“Yeah, you’re right,” He shrugs. “I can’t play Chopin’s music.”

She smiles smugly at him.

“And my band is a rock band. Good guess.” Rowlynn laughs, her voice rings across the theatre, sounding like music to his ears. Oh wow, to hear a wonderful melody like that.

“It’s great meeting you, rocker. But I’ve gotta go now.” She takes off her ballet shoes and gets up to the stage to grab her jacket, which is lying in a heap in a corner. “I have some ghost friends to meet.”

“Well, it’s been cool meeting you too.” He mentally slaps himself for saying _cool_. “Any chance we can meet up again?”

“I dance here a lot. Like, almost everyday. So, if you want to meet, come here.”

“Sure. I can do that do. See you around, then.”

"See you around, Reggie." And then she's gone in a flash of light, leaving him by himself in the theatre with the phantom of beautiful laughter ringing in the air.

* * *

He poofs back into the studio with a goofy smile on his face and finds his friends there. Luke is sitting on the couch with elbows propped up on his knees and hands holding his own face while Alex is walking back and forth, hands twirling his drumsticks.

On his left is Julie pressing on some keys but her eyes are on Alex. They are all startled when he appears out of nowhere, looking like he has found out about the secret to the greatest happiness in the world.

"Where the hell have you been?" Alex's pacing halts sharply as Luke lift his head from his hands.

“Yeah, where were you, man? We’ve been so worried.”

Reggie furrows his eyebrows and tilts his head in confusion. He couldn’t have gone out for too long, right? He knows he didn’t tell anyone that he had gone exploring, but he’s his own person, ghost, whatever. They don’t have to be constantly concerned about him all the time.

“I was just you know, exploring and stuff.” He gives them a soft grin, waving his hands around as if to make a point. “Visiting some old memories and all.”

“Dude, I left the studio at 8. This is now 3 in the afternoon.” Luke has that expression on his face whenever he tries to emphasize something as important.

His brain short-circuited for a moment. He left like, half an hour after Luke had, which makes it about half-past 8. It's 3 pm now. 

“I’ve been gone for 6 hours and a half ?!”

“Yup,” Julie says, stepping out in front of him. “Luke and I, we had to stop Alex from performing a summoning ritual to call you back. Like, I don’t you where he learned about the ritual and we did want to find you but I thought burning the studio down trying to reach you would not be a good idea.”

Oh, fuck! Without the need for food and hydration, time would escape him and leave him unaware of how long he has been doing something. And the other thing too, ADHD, that's the name. Even back when he was alive, he would forget about the time often, but it was never this bad.

“I’m sorry?” That sounds more like a question than an apology. “I went to some places and you know, just wandered around. Didn’t mean to go for that long. But come on, it’s not like I’ve gone for another 25 years, yeah?”

Ever since the stamps were lifted, they have been in a constant state of feeling uneasy. Who knows what their unfinished business is? Who knows when one of them might cross over? And who knows if Caleb knows about their prevailing yet.

He feels guilty for worrying them so much, but hey, he got to meet Rowlynn, which softens down the guilt to some extent. And Reggie hasn’t stopped smiling like an idiot, he now just comes to realize.

They are not impressed with his little joke. Pretty sure Alex is giving him the stink eye from behind Luke and Julie.

“Why are you looking like that?” Luke narrows his eyes at him.

“Like what?” _Play dumb, play dumb, play dumb--_

“Like that one time when we were juniors and you had that stupid crush on that guy, Ross, who was a year older than us--” Alex chimes in, eyes accusing.

“Pfft wha-- no. It was me looking up to h--”

“His abs?”

Great. No need to call him out like that. After Alex came out to Julie and Flynn, they have been teaching them about all the cool stuff about sexualities and genders and such. Which got him to come to term with the fact that he did not just admire that guy back then. He keeps it to himself though.

But Alex, who has a “softer touch” and apparently, an eye for these kinds of stuff, had noticed something different back then.

Still, he doesn’t think he should be called out like that.

Reggie huffs and crosses his arms. He’s most likely pouting at this point but he could not care less. Anything to make Alex feel guilty for “exposing” him, as Julie would say in her modern language.

“Did something interesting happen while you were out?” Julie asks, shoving Alex and Luke back despite their quiet protests.

“Just, my mom’s favorite cafe is gone, along with the cinema that I really liked. But my dad’s old workshop is still there, and my favorite theatre has been abandoned.” He gestures his hands around a bit, hoping to make that sound less depressing.

“I’m sorry, Reggie. That must have been hard, seeing all the changes.”

“Yeah yeah, it’s okay though. I uh, I met a ghost in the theatre.”

Which, surely, will lift the atmosphere somewhat. That also has caught the full attention of his two dead bandmates.

“A ghost? Cool! Tell us about them.”

"Slow down Lucas," Alex grumbles as he pulls his excited bandmate to the couch and pushes him down. "Sit down."

Julie and he watch as the guitarist tries to get out of the drummer’s grasp by wrestling with him before the two of them fall off the couch with a loud "thud". The wrestling match never stops with Luke trying to get on Alex’s nerves even more while the blond is only trying to escape.

“That looks fun.” He points out to Julie.

“Don’t.” That’s the only warning he gets. “You two, stop! Sit on the couch and let Reggie talks, if he wants to.”

The last part is more directed to him than it is to the two fighting ghosts. And maybe he does want to talk about Rowlynn a little, enough for them to know who she is and won’t get all fussy over him, worrying about everything and anything ever.

Sure, he doesn’t blame it on Willie for all of their trouble with Caleb, but it has kinda made all of them more paranoid nowadays. Which has been annoying as fuck, if he’s being honest.

Julie has settled to sitting on one of the chairs, folding her legs up comfortably to wait for him.

“Alright. I met a ghost. Her name is Rowlynn and she was a ballerina at that theatre. Found her dancing there and I accidentally made some noises. We ended up talking for a while.”

It is short, simple and doesn't reveal too much about this newfound crush on her. Well, he's not sure if it's a crush, actually. After the initial shock of seeing her gracefully flying across the stage, he has been left feeling all warm and nice with a side of relief from his bad day.

He feels safe, looking at her, thinking about her, talking about her.

"And?" Julie urges him to go on.

“And we might meet again if I ever visit the theatre again. That’s all.”

Julie sighs, getting up to pat him on the arm.

“When Flynn finds out about this, she’s gonna freak out, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

And that safe feeling won’t be leaving him until much, much later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was it?  
> Kudos and comments are always very much appreciated. Thanks so much for reading and supporting ❤❤❤


	2. Blue-eyed Ballerina, God Only Knows How Much I Need Ya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reggie has a bad day and comes to the theatre.  
> Rowlynn tells him about her death one day.  
> She gets to see one of their gigs a while after that.
> 
> Just more progress in their relationship and more band's fuckery after their first meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of my longest single chapters actually. And I've been busy with so many deadlines for my uni and my book clubs and my french classes and my other fics too so it took a little longer to write.  
> I do hope I've conveyed his emotions and conflicts correctly. I have a difficult time understanding how emotions and emotional turmoil work so it's never easy for me to write stuff like that. But I do consider this better than a lot of other times.  
> Enjoy the rest of the fic!

He comes back to the abandoned theatre soon after that day. It’s not all intentional though. But the light is too bright and the sound of someone fixing their roof is too loud and the smell of the food in the kitchen is too strong and then he knows he has to get away.

It is almost noon by the way. He was just chilling in the living room, minding his business, until he couldn’t ignore everything that has been going on around him anymore.

The last thing he knew before disappearing from the Molinas’ living room was the crawling feeling on his skin and the urge to throw up, even though he doesn’t have a stomach anymore.

He has poofed to somewhere, he knows it, but he does not exactly know where his location is. Reggie has his eyes closed, not wanting to see the brightness of the day, and he keeps his hands around himself, reassuring his own brain that there is nothing crawling up on his skin.

The air is silent now, only a soft ticking from probably, a clock and some occasional gentle tapping sound from far away. The scent of wood and dust tickles his nose, but it's more pleasant than the smell of oil and food, no offence to Tía and her cooking since it always looks very good (he just can’t eat), which is a huge relief.

The crawling feeling hasn’t ceased, however. After one minute or maybe three hours, he finally dares to open his eyes, expecting some harsh lighting because since when has the universe been kind to him? But as the faded brown color of a wooden wall meets his eyes, he lets out a long sigh.

Reggie breathes in slowly, letting his brain take some time to calm down. It doesn’t help too much, but it’s better than nothing.

He sinks to the floor, tucking his knees under his chin and wrapping his arms around them. This position has always been the one for every time he feels overloaded, for every time he wants comfort but his brain would not let him.

God knows how many time Alex or Luke or even Bobby want to help him, want to hold him close and try to chase this awful feeling away. But he has never let them, for every touch feels like fire on his skin and like poison to his brain.

They always have to stare at him in concern, unable to do anything besides turning off the light of the room or try to get him to stay hydrated. And for which, he loves them. His friends, his bandmates, his brothers (okay but Bobby is on thin fucking ice).

Julie has never seen him like this, fortunately. The girl has already had so much on her plate that he would feel guilty to burden her more. The only Reggie she should know of is the goofy dumbass that is emotional occasionally ( _unlike Alex, who is always,_ he tells himself).

He listens closely to the sound of the clock ticking and regulates his breathing to it. In and out. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7, then 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10…11, and repeat. He keeps his eyes closed for most of the time.

When the urge to throw up from his non-existent stomach has died down somewhat, he lets himself breathe freely and stands up. Reggie rubs his shoulders and arms, trying to get rid of the invisible ants on them.

Only now that he’s more focuses could he realize where he is. The theatre. Right outside the auditorium. The door is just a few feet away from his left.

He peers inside the auditorium, not really knowing what to hope for. He knows that Rowlynn has told him she would be here almost daily, but the keyword here is “almost”. And he doesn’t really want her to see him in this state, to be honest.

Despite all of his good intentions, or so he tells himself, his brain hasn’t worked very properly yet. Rowlynn has seen him, way before he could find her on the side of the stage.

As she waves at him, Reggie comes to realize where she is and what she is doing. He waves back hesitantly and she motions for him to come to the stage.

He could just poof to where she is, but he chooses to walk instead. More time to get his act together and fool her of his unstable state. He can see her sunshine smile once he gets close enough and he feels like he’s ready to get lost in her blue eyes again.

But then his brain knocks at his skull to tell him that’s it’s still fucked up and the magical land just disappears into nothingness.

“Hey, good to see you back here.” Rowlynn sits down on the edge of the stage, swinging her legs a little.

“Yeah, couldn’t stay away for long.” He gives a smile back, forced and uneasy. He doesn’t like faking his okayness. He thinks no one does. But at least, if he were with the guys, he wouldn’t have to. “How are you?”

“Dead.” She says, her eyes twinkling again. Reggie snorts at the joke, just softly, but it is enough for her to know that it was funny. “What about you?”

“Well, I’m not exactly feeling alive right now too.”

Silence passes between them to the point it feels a bit uncomfortable. He wonders if it’s him or if she has something on her mind. He kinda hopes it not either of the cases.

“How are you, Reggie, for real?”

Busted. Or something. But she actually looks concerned and he is afraid for a moment. Afraid that he has shown his weakness, afraid that she would catch on to something and they won't be so comfortable around each other anymore, afraid, afraid and afraid.

“I’m doing okay, if that’s what you wanna ask.” He shrugs, letting the small grin linger a little.

Rowlynn slides down from where she's sitting and stands face to face with him. He's not much taller than her so it's easy for her eyes to catch his ( _damn you, dying-at-the-age-of-17-and-never-getting-to-grow-taller,_ he scoffs silently).

“You know how ghosts are just energy and consciousness leftovers of people?” She asks.

“No, not really. I’ve been doing ghost stuff for well, a month or two only.”

"Okay." She mutters, much like Alex every time the drummer is annoyed with him. "Ghosts are energy and consciousness leftovers of people, which is why ghosts radiate more pure energy than lifers. And sometimes, very rare, some ghosts would have the ability to sense that pure energy from other ghosts."

“ALright…and?

“And your energy is definitely not okay right now.” Her voice soft, like warm morning light in an autumn day streaming through the crack of the curtain and onto the pillows and blanket. Like the comfiest one could ever feel. However…

“You’re sensing my emotions?” His voice rises, just a bit. He knows he’s a bit defensive when people come up to him and ask him if he’s doing fine, so this is not a surprise.

"You're not exactly hiding it, Reggie. I could already sense it when you were halfway through the auditorium."

He takes a step back to create some space between them. It’s not too far away, he can still touch her if he wants to and vice versa, but if it helps him breathe a little easier then it’s not exactly for nothing.

“Just…having a not good day.” He explains vaguely, possibly with a small grimace that he has tried to disguise as a smile. And he feels a little guilty too, it's not her fault that she can sense his strong emotions, right? 

Reggie misses the beat when Rowlynn’s hand comes up to slightly graze his elbow. He stumbles back and startles her, both widen their eyes at that.

“Shit, I’m so sorry.” She says softly, bringing her hand back down.

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m okay.” He dismisses. Like always.

 _That was stupid._ He scowls at himself.

Rowlynn tilts her head, eyes still wide and sad. Not the kind of pity he was expecting though, it’s more like guilt and empathy. She presses her lips together and takes a deep breath.

“You said you like ballerinas, right?”

A blush creeps upon his face unexpectedly. He knows what she means, ballerinas in general, but he can't help the little thought of liking a certain ballerina.

“Y--yeah. Always thought they are cool and badass.” He gives a tiny smirk that should be perceived as cute and maybe a bit flirty. Rowlynn only raises an eyebrow back at him.

“Why, thank you.” A small head nod and the sunshine smile has returned to her lips. “So, do you want to watch a small ballet?”

"Really? A whole ballet, just for me?" He's a little surprised. After all, people don't dance for those whom they hardly know, right?

“I don’t think I can get any music though, unfortunately.” She shrugs apologetically.

“I--uh, I’ve figured out how to use some technology. Wait here. Like, a second.”

He has an idea. He doesn’t want to go back yet, but hey, this is bigger than his little whatever it is. He poofs into Julie’s room, which earns him a surprised scream that has got him grimacing at the loudness again.

“It’s just me, hey.”

“What the hell? I told you guys to stay out of my room!” Like, he loves her for her wonderful voice and all, but sometimes, it’s way too powerful for his liking.

“Please stop screaming. I just need a small favour.”

She glares at him, but then sighs at his “puppy dog eyes”, as Alex called them.

“What do you need?”

“Your laptop and speaker. Won’t be long.”

"May I ask why?" She reaches for her laptop but is still hesitant. Her eyes narrow and he swears he can hear the whispering of the word _"suspicious"_ in the air.

"It's for a small uh, ballet." He mentally smacks himself. If he weren't so panicked, he could at least think of something better. But Julie only gives him a grin full of mischief and hands him the two objects.

“Alright. But if you two ever go on a date--”

“I’ve only met her twice, Jules.” He whines.

“I’m just saying. Now go, shoo.” Her hands make some shooing motions and he takes it as his cue to go. Reggie salutes her with the hand holding the speaker and poofs back to the theatre.

“Maybe I should invest in speaker, don’t ya think?” He finds Rowlynn looking at the two objects in interest when he reappears in front of her.

“You should. No ballerina should be without their music. Now, which song, my lady?” He holds the laptop and the speaker up.

“Hmm, how about Divertimento No.15? It’s one of my favorites.”

"Alright." He plugs the speaker wire into the laptop and turns them both on, hoping Julie has charged them fully.

Then Reggie sits down on the side of the stage, not wanting to test out how dirty the seats in the auditorium are. Rowlynn stands on the other side of the stage and as she gives him the cue to turn on the music, he does it.

Soft music fills the stage and he is soon mesmerized by the sight in front of him.

* * *

It's slowly becoming a routine after that. He would meet up with Rowlynn in the theatre once or twice a week with Julie’s laptop and speaker.

They then would pick a song for Rowlynn to dance too and Reggie would sit back. Sometimes he would do his own stuff, like thinking of something for his country songs, but most of the time, he would watch her dance and even join in occasionally.

Reggie can’t dance nor do ballet, but he does know how to make a girl laugh. And Rowlynn’s laugh is just so damn beautiful. So doing the chicken dance to Tchaikovsky is worth it.

Once in a while, when he's having a particularly bad day or when she's missing her siblings, they would sit next to each other, leaning on the stage wall and listen to classical music together without either talking or really doing anything.

And when he returns to the Molinas’ house after that, if his bandmates notice his dumb grin or his hazy eyes, they only give him a knowingly smirk or two before moving on with their business.

Which is good. No need to be called out like the other day.

Here they are again, chilling on the stage of the abandoned theatre where soft piano music is filling the atmosphere.

It’s nice, having her with him like this, with her head on his shoulder and their hands barely touching. A warm ray of sunshine drapes over his knees and her legs, looking like melted gold, sparkling and beautiful.

He hears Rowlynn sighing next to his ear first.

“Reggie?”

“Hmm, yeah?”

“Can I tell you about how I died? It’s not really fair when you’ve told me how you died, but I never told you about my death.”

He blinks in surprise. The whole time they have known each other, not once did she bring up this subject. He, however, has told her about how he died, bad hotdog and all. And she, being the wonderful ghost she is, has made sure he was okay with her going with his jokes about it sometimes.

But she has never mentioned anything about her death and he has never dared to ask.

But now, if she wants to, then he will listen.

“It’s fine if you don’t want to, seriously.” He pauses. “But you’re sure that you want to tell me, then yeah, go for it. You can tell me anything, remember?” A little promise they have made with each other since the second day he came to this place with his head screaming and all messed up.

Rowlynn breathes out through her mouth and shifts to left her head off his shoulder. He immediately misses her so close to him, but he keeps his mouth shut for her sake.

“I had a sister and two brothers. My sister and I, we used to perform here all the time, but we never got to be in the same performance together. It was okay though, you know? When she danced, I could support her with the family in the auditorium. And when I performed, she did the same.”

"Then, by some luck or something, we got the two leads roles in a performance together. The first time that happened. It was like a dream coming true and we couldn't be happier. The whole family were so excited. My twin, he even made some dumb matching T-shirts for us." Rowlynn gives a small laugh at the memory and Reggie finds himself smiling along with her.

“Have you ever wondered why the theatre got abandoned?” She asks, cutting off her story.

“Not really,” Reggie answered honestly. It was painful enough that most of his favorite spots in the city either got replaced or abandoned, he did not want to know more about why. “I guess I don’t want to feel worse about my happy memories with my parents getting tainted by all these changes.”

He gives a shrug and she hums softly in her throat to the sound of the piano for a few seconds. She definitely knows what happened and she’s probably related to the closing down of the theatre in some ways, Reggie takes a wild guess.

“I don’t know if I should tell you what was next.” She admits quietly.

“I don’t mind that much, really. Not like I could change anything back to the way it was.” He lets his head fall back easily, touching the wall as it does so. Reggie then turns his head slightly towards her to encourage her with a lopsided grin. “Go on, if you still want to, that is.”

“If you’re sure.” She nudges his shoulder with hers in a short second before continuing. “We were in a rehearsal one day. Everything was lovely and so well-prepared for the show. It would have been a huge one, with posters and advertisements everywhere in the city.”

“It was so carefully taken care of, the show, except for some small details.”

Reggie is not sure if he likes how this is going. Well, talking about someone’s death is not exactly the happy topic of the day, but still, this is going south. Beside him, Rowlynn sniffles softly.

"No one saw it coming, except for me, just half a second away. My sister, she was like, five feet away from where I was, still dancing and oblivious to anything around, save for the music. I was waiting for my cue and that was when I saw one of the bars falling down."

"I don't really know what had caused it to fall down. I only remember pushing my sister away and, and then something hit my neck." Reggie is trying his best to not interrupt her even though he wants to comfort her through this. He feels like that would not be a good idea. "I blacked out after that, and when I woke up, I was a ghost already."

Her small laugh is bitter and sorrowful. He hates how it lacks the usual warmth of the summer sunlight it has always possessed. She sniffed again and continues.

“I found out a few days later that I’ve been dead for two years. The bar killed me, no surprise here. My sister got a cracked rib and injured her wrist, but at least, fortunately, she was still alive. The theatre managed to stay open for another year but the pressure from having someone dying in there was too much. So you know how it was closed." He has guessed it. The question of whether he had wondered about the termination of the theatre wasn't for nothing, that's for sure. He doesn't voice his thoughts so Rowlynn can continue.

“So, everyone else was alive and mostly well. But then my family moved to Florida and she gave up ballet for good. Such a shame, you know? She was so, so great--”

And as her voice cracks, Reggie can’t take it anymore. Ignoring his own tears in the corners of his eyes, he turns to tentatively wrap his arms around her. Rowlynn doesn’t push him away, so he takes that as her acceptance of the hug.

He tightens his embrace and she buries her head in the crook of his neck. The ballerina's body shakes with silent sobs and her ghostly tears soak his non-existing shirt. And his world now is only the girl in his arms who is letting her sorrow drown out anything else that does not matter to either of them.

They stay like that for a long time, even with the speaker dying for running out of power. Without the music, the air is still with the sound of Rowlynn’s crying into his shoulder. But he can wait, and wait, and wait until she is okay to talk again.

Or not, even. They can just sit here in silence, as long as it means she will be okay. And he will provide her with all the comfort she needs, verbally, emotionally or physically. A word, a hug or any music he can play for her. Anything.

“My unfinished business--” She says with much hesitation in her voice. “Is to perform with my sister one last time. Probably.”

Her chuckle sounds hollow and mournful at the same time. She lets go of him but staying close to his side. One of his hands is still entangling with hers.

"I mean, I wouldn't know for sure, but it's the most possible one." Rowlynn pauses and stares into the distance. "That was what I wanted the most, looked forwards to the most before I died."

What she is saying makes sense. Though, what his friends and he were looking forwards to the most before they died was to play at the Orpheum. And well, turned out, it wasn't their unfinished business. But who knows with Rowlynn's situation.

“I don’t know if I actually want to move on, though.” She breaks the silence again. “And it’s not like I can. Cathy stopped dancing years ago.”

The whole situation is reminding Reggie too much of Julie and her mom. Julie’s mom passed away more than a year ago, and Julie has only started playing music again recently. And that was because her life got all turned upside down by three dead teenage boys with many issues.

“Thanks for listening to me, Reggie. I know the story hasn’t been very pleasant.” She smiles at him.

“Yeah, no problem. I’m glad you trust me enough to tell your story.”

Hours later, when he has finally returned home, which is precisely the studio, he is silent and lacking a goofy grin this time. Which, obviously, has brought concern to Alex and Luke.

"How was hanging out with Rowlynn?" Alex asks carefully. The drummer might think he doesn't notice how on edge the other two are, but he does. It's not bad though. He is not exactly radiating positive vibes.

“Nothing. Just-- just Rowlynn, you know? She uh, she told me about how she died.” He’s not going to tell them her story, but it doesn’t hurt for them to know why he’s in a less happy mood.

“Yikes, death stories are always the worst.” Luke taps the pen on his notebook. “At least we can make a few jokes out of ours.”

“Or maybe you can write a few metaphors in there. _You make me feel alive like no good street dog can._ ” Oh, the snark is back. He doesn’t want to admit it but Alex’s snark is one of the best things that have happened in his life and/or afterlife.

"Thanks, buddy. I'll keep it in mind in case we need a love song for you and Willie to make lovey-dovey eyes at each other."

And the snark backfires. Reggie giggles out loud at the look on Alex’s face. Serve him right for calling him out the other day. The blond just shakes his head and moves to the drum set.

Julie is coming down to the studio at any minute now and it's best that they should prepare for some band practice.

* * *

“I’m thinking,” Julie starts. “You should invite Rowlynn to one of our gigs or something. It’ll be nice for her to see you perform and you know, for us to meet her.”

The little suggestion makes him skip a note on his bass. Sure, she did ask and he did offer to play for her, but this is suggesting her seeing the whole band performing. And meeting his bandmates/friends.

It’s not that he’s embarrassed by either party or whatever. If anything, he would want to show off both sides to each other because he just loves them all so damn much.

The thing is, Rowlynn has been his little safe place for a while now, as he is to her. Back when he was alive, the band was his safe place away from his parents’ constant fights. And then they died, which got rid of the parents issue for him. But that has also raised so many more problems for all of them, and he can’t just come to the others when he’s in need of comfort.

Luke still has parents’ issue, being dead and having fought with his mom before running away and dying later. Alex doesn’t know where his family is right now and whether or not they are still homophobic assholes (saved for his sister). Besides, he has Willie to hang out with too, which has been great. Reggie can’t take all that away from his friend.

And Julie, however better she is dealing with the grief from losing her mom, has so much to do. Homework, the music program, the band, her family and social life. She's a lifer, she doesn't have to privilege of not being seen by many and poofing away whenever she wants.

Back when he was not dead, he never wanted his parents to meet the band, ever. Because they were his little corner of peace that he would have never found at home. And where the band was, it would be his favorite place to be. And since his old house was never his favorite place to begin with, the band was not ever invited into it.

So now, though it sounds stupid and incomparable, he doesn’t really want to show off Rowlynn to others. It was not like his parents, for he felt unsafe with them. He loves his band, and being around them is wonderful.

But being dead has changed things. He has almost to no social life now, outside his band and some small acts of flirting to those in the audience. As long as he knows, he and Rowlynn have never met each other’s friends. He knows the ballerina has some ghosts friends.

And to be honest, he is a bit scared that his current safe and favorite place would be exposed to others, even if others are just his friends. Nevertheless, he doesn’t think he can back out of this so easily without sounding like mad or traitorous to his band trying to explain his reasons.

“Yeah, maybe the next gig. Well, I would have to talk to her first--”

“Definitely. The next gig isn’t here until the next Friday.”

He sees Rowlynn again two days later. Julie has to study for a test so, no practice. Luke is sulking, of course, being unable to write with her. Therefore, naturally, he’s brooding at his parents’ house.

Willie is taking Alex to some weird spots for skating. Probably to keep showing off his skills. He swears, at this rate, Alex’s ghost boyfriend will find a way to skate down from the Eiffel Tower for sure.

He's having a pretty nice day, to be honest. No sensory problem (Reggie's still wondering how he can have sensory problems while having no physical body) and no sad ass trip down the memory lane. He just wants to see her, and maybe, he kinda wants to use this opportunity to ask her to come to the next gig.

The first thing he sees when he poofs into the theatre, right before the stage, is Rowlynn putting on her shoes. She doesn’t notice him right away, focusing on tying the ribbons.

He clears his throat, a bit awkwardly but it seems to works for him just fine since the ballerina has looked up with her sunshine smile in its usual place.

“Good morning, Reggie.”

“Hey.” He walks up closer to the stage and climbs up to her. “I uh, I figure I’m gonna get straight to the point. I need to ask you something.”

This is nerve-wracking. But Reggie has never been able to beat around the bush any time he wants to talk about something or ask someone for something. He’s good at avoiding the subject though, but he doubts he will be able to avoid this for long.

“Sure, what do you need?”

Reggie presses his lips together and lets his hands fidget with the hems of his jacket a little. It’s taking every ounce of his self-control for him to not bite the inside of his cheeks.

“It’s uh, the band, you know? They told me to well, invite you to a gig. I mean, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to, but we have one gig, next Friday, and they just thought it would be a great idea of you can go there--”

He knows he's rambling at this point and has made several grammar mistakes. But he's nervous and half of him still doesn't want her to accept his invitation to go to the gig. The other half, the lovesick-braindead-half, actually wants her to go so he can dedicate the whole gig for her.

“Reggie,” She giggles, putting her hand on his left one, which is squeezing a tiny part of his flannel to death. “Doyou want me to go?”

He blinks at her in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” She takes his other hand. “You said your band invited me, and I know we’re having something going on but, do _you_ want me to go to that next gig?”

Oh, right. He did say his band invited her. Then Reggie realizes she was saying something about what they have going on and he can feel a blush creeping upon his face. Since he's so good at ignoring and avoiding, he probably should skip talking about that part.

Reggie swallows and clears his throat while continuing to fight the heat on his face.

“I uh, I don’t know?” That sounds more like a question than an answer.

She furrows her eyebrows at him and Reggie finds himself looking down on his shoes, unable to come up with anything to tell her about the situation.

“I do think it’s great for you guys to meet each other.” He admits sincerely. “But I’m just afraid, I guess.”

There it is. That’s something, and it’s true, nonetheless. All of his problems and his hesitation in making decisions root deeply in his stupid fears. Fear of this and that, fear of being exposed to people, fear of disagreement, of conflict, and fear of losing the safe feeling he has been holding onto for so long now.

Because Rowlynn's hands are warm in his and the sunlight streaming in on her hair is so golden and so safe. Because her soft eyes bring him so much joy and happiness. And because this abandoned theatre is the little corner of their world to be around each other.

And he's afraid of losing this for some dumb reasons.

His friends will not take him from her or her from him. He knows that. If anything, they would be supportive (as long as there is nothing to do with Caleb and his little club here). They would be happy for him.

But why is this so difficult?

Reggie sighs. He takes up his courage and brings one of her hands to his lips and kisses it. A small gesture his father would do for his mother every time they visited this theatre before shit came down and fucked up their relationship.

He has always wanted to do this for someone.

“I think better when I play music.” He says, the words seemingly out of place. “Care to sit down and listen a bit?”

“Anytime.”

So he summons his bass and they go to sit in their usual place. Rowlynn takes off her ballet shoes and he feels a little bad about that. She was getting ready for her ballet routine and now she’s spending time for him.

But then Rowlynn smile reassuringly and it’s okay again. Somewhat. His fingers start plucking on the strings and the gears in his head are working better again.

So he explains, and like every time, she listens.

* * *

Rowlynn comes to the gig, as they have come to their final agreement. He’s nervous, which is understandable. She has seen and heard him play, but it was only for her and it was without the band.

Julie has been giving him the same encouraging smile the whole day while Alex has been having that little-shit-face on. Yeah, he has teased him about Willie way too many times. Luke is usual, making eyes at Julie even though she’s obvious about it most of the time.

“Ready?” Alex taps on his shoulder.

“Hmm, yeah.” He looks over the audience to find her. The ballerina is leaning on a pillar of the room. She’s not in her ballet get-up today, but a flowy dress and a denim jacket. Her eyes meet his and she waves, which gets him to give a wave back.

“Is that her?” Luke’s voice startles him from his right side.

“Yeah, that’s Rowlynn.”

"Right, loverboy," Luke gives his shit-eating grin on and drags him back. "We're on in five. Get your head in the game."

“Who are you calling _loverboy_ , loverboy?” Reggie shoots back, but without much heat. “I have to get my head in the game but you can stare at Jules the whole time?”

“So, you want me to stare at you always? ‘Cause I can do that too. We ooze chemistry too, you know?” Luke fakes a pout.

“Alright, _ooze_ is cancelled. Neither of you can say that word again.” Alex chimes in.

No matter what Luke has said, his head is not in the game half of the time. He can play though, and he can play well. But his eyes are almost constantly on Rowlynn and searches for her reaction to the band playing.

He winks at her a few times, feeling bolder when playing, but since she’s invisible to the crowd, some girls who are standing near her spots thought the winks are for them and occasionally scream loudly in excitement. Yikes.

It's fine though, not like they can ask him out or whatever. He's dead. It was devastating before, however, now, it's almost like a relief (even though some pretty gals or guys would catch his eyes sometimes still). Because there's Rowlynn, standing there and focusing on him, and even though he's still unclear what they are to each other, he's glad that he has her just as she has him.

The gig ends at half-past ten and they poof away, leaving Julie to deal with the lifers. Rowlynn finds them behind the stage and congrats them on the gig.

“That was amazing.” She says, walking up to them.

“Thanks. Rowlynn, right?” Alex offers his hand. “I’m Alex.”

“And I’m Luke, it’s nice meeting you.” Luke shoves the blond aside and Reggie can feel _the stare_ from here. You know the stare Alex has on every time he’s done with someone?

“It’s great to finally get to meet you all. And yeah, I’m Rowlynn.”

"There's Julie," Reggie says. "But I don't think she can see you. We'll figure something out, like Alex and his boyfriend."

Yup, they have tried so many ways for Julie to meet Willie and that included a flour attempt. And he means the real flour. They tried to dump some flour on Willie to see if he can be somewhat visible to Julie. Willie agreed on that and Alex was against that. They have to clean the whole studio after that too.

"Well, I'm sure we can try." She brushes her hand against his.

"Oh, we have to go back to the studio. You too, Rowlynn. Even if Julie can't see you, we can still help to introduce you two to each other." Alex offers.

“That sounds good.” She agrees. “I do hope I’m not intruding or anything, though.”

“It’s no problem. It’s good to have a new ghost that isn’t hostile to us around once in a while.” Alex slaps Luke’s arm at that and poofs them both away, leaving Reggie alone with Rowlynn.

“Right, I should get us to the studio. Ready?” He holds out his hand and she takes it without any hesitation.

“Ready.”

* * *

Two weeks later after that gig, three days after their first official date, Reggie finds himself sitting down on their (not just Luke’s, alright?) couch in the studio. Contrary to popular belief, he doesn’t write his songs on separate sheets and puts them everywhere. He has his songbook too.

(It was only one time that he has to tear a page out to give Luke the horse song.)

He twirls the pen in his hand and taps them on the page gently. He has an idea.

Then Reggie puts the pen down for the first lines.

_“Blue-eyed ballerina_

_God only knows how much I need ya…”_

****END.** **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's that bit on how some ghosts can sense emotions. I did not go very deep into that seeing that was a bit unnecessary. But I thought it was pretty reasonable too and like, we don't know shit about ghosts so I got to use my imagination a little. I did imagine Rowlynn sitting down to explain that to Reggie too but I didn't really want to put that in the fic.
> 
> And there's the ballet. I don't know much about ballet, as I don't get to see much of them and it's not really my thing. My sister does practice ballet but she only started that while I was away studying in a boarding high school and then, university so yeah. I got the idea from one of Carolynn's videos on Youtube of her dancing, so here it is: Carolynn Rowland. It's the second song.
> 
> It's been a fun ride writing this. Well, it's kinda sad but I did enjoy writing this a lot that I initially thought. I mean, this is my first fic to do with romance and relationship, even though it's pretty soft in here.  
> I do want to write more for JATP, some fun friendship/family kind of fics. If I ever have more time and ideas, that is.
> 
> I hope this has been great for you all to read, and I hope to receive some feedback to improve my writing. Thanks all for reading and supporting me ❤❤❤

**Author's Note:**

> I know I post this in my pseud "Child of War and Peace" which was originally created for me to post a fic about a band, but if you care about JATP and maybe some other DCOMs, you can find me at [@sunset-not-straight](https://sunset-not-straight.tumblr.com/)


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